


Night to Remember

by Constance722



Category: Guiding Light, One Life to Live
Genre: Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-11
Updated: 2016-06-13
Packaged: 2018-07-14 10:56:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7168262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Constance722/pseuds/Constance722





	1. Episode 1

Gwen Vint sighed as she smoothed the tape down over the corner of the cardboard box. She struggled to lift it, placing it on top of the stack of larger boxes that sat in the corner—waiting. As she looked around at the room, it was hard to believe how full it had once been. This was the room where they had spent most of their time. This was the room where she and Peter had spent many nights watching movies and talking, long before Ashlyn was born. This was the room Ashlyn rushed into every Christmas, her eyes wide with anticipation, her mind spinning with thoughts of what Santa had brought. This was the room she’d been in when she got the call from the doctor’s office….both of them. 

The first had been nearly eight years ago. She’d gone in for blood work, convinced the anemia that had plagued her for most of her adult life was back and instead found out that she and Peter were expecting. The second call was two years ago—almost two the day. Not much was said on the phone. She knew what that meant, and after that day, nothing else was the same. 

~  
“I’m sorry,” she said, her hands trembling as she reached up to wipe the tears from her face. She turned her back to him as he moved to embrace her. 

“Kel,” Joey said, softly, placing his hands on her shoulders. “You don’t have anything to be sorry for. “

She turned, her face stained with tears. “I just hate disappointing you over and over again. I know how much you want this. I know how much you want a family.” She held up her hand as he opened his mouth and started to protest. “Don’t even bother saying that it’s not important because I know that it is.”

“Not as important as this,” he insisted, taking her hands in his and bringing them to his lips. He placed gentle kisses across her fingers. “You are the most important thing in the world to me….all the rest…it’s a distant second.” 

Kelly sighed, her eyes falling over to the box in the trash can. Another negative pregnancy test could now be added to the collection. “I just wish I knew what was wrong,” she sighed. 

“You heard the doctor.” Joey ran his fingers through her hair as he looked at her. He hated seeing her do this to herself every month. Yes, he wanted a family, but not at the expense of Kelly’s happiness, and certainly not at the expense of his marriage. “They couldn’t find any physical reason we can’t have a baby.” 

“I know,” she groaned, leaning her head back as she leaned against the bathroom counter. “What the hell good does that do us?” 

Leaning in, he kissed her lips, smiling slightly. “You could look at it as good news, you know.”

She closed her eyes, sighing again. “I know,” she opened her eyes, smiling a little, if for no other reason than to pacify him, “I’m sorry. It is good news. It is….I just wish…If it were something physical…they could fix it. Now…I mean…this way….”

“This way..it means we just need some time…some uninterrupted, stress-free time alone.” He reached into his back pocket, pulling out a brochure. “I have just the place,” he smiled. 

~  
“Ok,” Hart smiled, as he loudly recounted, “I’ve got the luggage, and the map, and the snacks. The car is filled with gas. It just seems like I’m forgetting something.”

“You forgot me,” Lilly yelled out, running up behind him and tapping him just above the knees. “I get to go too.” 

Hart leaned down with a smile, scooping her up as Dinah smiled in the passenger seat. “Of course you do.” He leaned in, kissing her quickly on the cheek as he strapped her into the car seat. “You are the best backseat driver a guy could have and you have to help me make sure Mommy doesn’t put all that yucky music on the radio.” 

“If Barry Manilow sings one note while I’m in this car, someone will be hurt,” Dinah muttered from her seat. She glanced back at Lily. “Only happy songs, right Lil?”

“Right!” Lily smiled. 

Hart climbed into the driver’s seat, grasping Dinah’s hand and squeezing it tightly for a moment. It was about time they had a happy trip. After the year they’d had, it was about time something…anything…went right for them. It had started off innocently enough, he thought. The guy seemed to be was young, able bodied, and looking for work—any kind of work even the kind of work you did on a farm. That kind of work ethic wasn’t easy to find. When he’d hired Jake Skinner, he thought he thought of it as paying it forward. He was giving the guy the second chance that some people in town had given him. 

Thinking back, he wished he’d never laid eyes on the guy. As he glanced over at his wife, he could still see the scar on the side of her neck. Scratch that, he thought, Jake Skinner better be the one wishing.


	2. Episode 2

“Damn!” Jake Skinner slammed his hands on the steering wheel, cursing again under his breath. Of all the cars to steal, he had the bad luck to steal a piece of junk. He stepped outside, turning around slowly searching for something, a street sign, a billboard…something…anything that might give him a clue as to where he could go. Nothing. Taking the back roads had seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, if the police were looking for a stolen car, the chances of them finding you in the middle of nowhere were slim. But, he realized, slumping back into the driver’s seat, when you’ve got no one to call for help, the middle of nowhere is the loneliest place in the world.

~  
“So, what do you think?” Joey asked, his voice hesitant but hopeful. The past year and a half had been hard on him, but he knew it had been even more difficult for Kelly. Every month, it seemed as if another small piece of her heart broke and it killed him to see her in pain. Over and over he assured her that he didn’t blame her for this—that she shouldn’t blame herself, but he could see in her eyes that she only heard his words…she didn’t believe them. 

Kelly looked up at him, the disappointment still evident on her face. “I don’t know, Joey,” she sighed. “I don’t know if I’d be good company right now. Maybe if we just waited a little while…maybe after they do that next round of tests.” 

“I don’t care about the tests!” He ran his hand over his face, a conscious effort to calm himself. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, taking her hand. “I just…..I don’t want this to consume us, baby. I don’t want our marriage to be about having a child.” 

He turned his back, walking into the bedroom. There were days, lately a lot of them, where he wondered if trying to have a baby would be their undoing…if the doubt and the questions would cost him his wife. Was it worth it? Was having a baby worth all the pain it was causing Kelly…all the stress it was causing both of them?

The gentle touch of her fingertips on his shoulders made him turn towards her again. 

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. 

“Kel…that’s just it. I don’t want you to feel like you have anything to apologize for. This isn’t about blame here. Neither of us has done anything wrong.” She averted her eyes as he spoke, a sure sign that his words weren’t getting through. 

“I married you. I love you. I want a life with you.” Grabbing her chin, he slowly moved her face towards his again. “Yes, I would love to have a child with you, but if we can’t…that doesn’t change the fact that I got the life I’ve dreamed of.” He stopped, reaching over to the bedside table and picking up a framed photograph. 

“You see these people?” He held the picture, a snapshot of the two of them from nearly three years ago. They stood in front of a fountain, the same one they’d jumped into all those years ago. “Do you remember this?”

Kelly smiled, nodding her head as she wiped away the tears. “Of course I do,” she whispered. 

“We were so happy. We had just gotten married and I didn’t think I could love you any more than I did at that moment, but I was wrong. I love you more now than I did then, and every day, I love you even more.”

“When do we leave?” she smiled, relaxing into his arms as he wrapped himself around her. 

~

“Stupid Shriners,” Dinah muttered, flipping through the pamphlets that lay across her lap. 

Hart smiled, reaching over to nudge her shoulder playfully. “Aw, come on baby, don’t hate on the Shriners. They’ve never done anything to you.” 

“Well they have now,” she huffed playfully. “It’s their fault we’re going to end up staying in some roach motel fit for a remake of Psycho.” She narrowed her eyes as he laughed. “I’m glad you find this so amusing. We are in the middle of nowhere, you know?”

“Oh, relax,” he smiled, glancing back in the rearview mirror, relieved to see Lily still sleeping in her seat. “At least your dramatic little cohort is taking a siesta.” 

Dinah turned. The sight of her daughter sleeping peacefully couldn’t help but provoke a smile. “She’s so excited. I’m surprised she fell asleep at all.”

“You and me both.” Glancing over at the pamphlets, he craned forward to read the sign. “Pygate Lane. You see anything in there about that?” 

“No. I think it’s safe to say we’re off the map. Besides, I’ve been spending most of my time watching the woods for cult gatherings. I haven’t seen a single house for miles, but there are some power lines up ahead, so something has to be up there.”

“Well,” Hart slowly pressed on the gas as he turned the car onto the bumpy dirt road. “Guess we’ll find out what it is.” 

~

“I can’t, Peter. I just can’t.” Gwen stood in the doorway as she looked around the room. Nothing had been moved. The bed was still made, her coat still lay draped on the back of her desk chair, the book she’d been reading still sat on her desk the page she’d stopped on turned down. 

“Gwen,” Peter sighed, stepping into the room. “It’s been almost two years. I know it’s hard, but you can’t keep doing this. It’s not healthy.” 

“It helps me. It makes me feel close to her,” she insisted, taking a seat on the bed. “I come in here and it’s like I can feel her with me….like she’s not so far away.”

Taking a seat beside her, he cautiously reached out for her hand. “The movers will be here in four days, Gwen. If you want to keep some things, that’s fine. We can box up a few things and then send the rest to Goodwill.” 

“You want to give her stuff away?” The thought of sending her daughter’s things to someone else was too much to comprehend. How could someone else wear that coat? Ashlyn had picked it out. The blue inner lining matched the blue of her eyes perfectly. It was hers…it couldn’t belong to anyone else. The books on the shelf had all been her favorites. Some she’d read over and over again…some Gwen had read to her night after night as she’d fallen asleep. 

“Gwen, I don’t know. What…would you rather throw it away?” He didn’t know what to say. Ashlyn’s death had taken a toll on their marriage, more so than he even realized. Gwen was distant, depressed, and sometimes almost frighteningly detached from reality. 

“I’d rather you leave me the hell alone and let me deal with this my own way!” she spat, the tears falling from her eyes as her anger finally got the better of her. 

“I’ve tried that!” He stood up, flinging his hand in the air in frustration. “You haven’t done anything. You refuse to see the therapist. You refuse to take any medication. You completely shut me out.” 

Gwen stared at him as he spoke. They’d had the same argument many times and now the words were so common, they no longer phased her. It was until recently, when Peter had told her had bad their financial situation was that she really began to feel out of control. The cancer was aggressive. Four months—that’s all the time they’d had to try and save their daughter, and even though the time was short, the bills had been extensive. 

Peter had always been successful, but the medical bills, coupled with the time he’d taken off during Ashlyn’s illness and the economic downturn had sent him into a tailspin. They were losing their home…the only home their daughter knew, and she felt as if she was losing what was left of her daughter. 

“Gwen,” Peter repeated, his voice more stern that it had been previously. “Are you even listening to me?”

“Yes, Peter. I hear you. I always hear you. You always say the same damn thing over and over again. I need to move on. I need to get help. I need to talk to someone.”

Peter sighed. “Talk to me, Gwen. Please…I miss her too.” 

“Right,” she sighed. “You missed her so much that you missed three whole days of work after her funeral.”

“Dammit, Gwen! We had just lost our daughter. I didn’t want us to lose everything. How many times are you going to throw that in my face?”

“I don’t know, Peter.” She stood up and left the room.

He sighed heavily, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out his phone. 

“Yeah, Susan, it’s Peter. No..No…Gwen’s ok. I just…I need a favor. I’m going to take Gwen out of town for a few days and I was wondering if you might come over and box up the things in Ashlyn’s room.”

He ran his hand over the back of his neck. Nausea flooded his body as he anticipated the rage that would follow when Gwen found out, but he knew it had to be done. 

“Tomorrow morning. We’re pulling out around ten,” he said, the typical excitement of the day before a vacation noticeably absent from his voice. “Right…anytime after that. No, she doesn’t know. I think it’s better that way. Just box up everything and she can go through it. Right…Thanks, Susan.” 

Peter closed the phone and stood, looking around the room. He swallowed hard, forcing the lump in his throat to subside. He hadn’t cried…not since the day of the funeral--fearing that if he started, he’d never stop.


End file.
